The need for each individual to carry at all times some record of identity, personal and medical data, is as old, perhaps, as society. Identification tags that are issued by governments to members of many armed forces (and in some extreme situations, to the public at large) are typically durable items that are carried on the person. These tags usually disclose the name, a personal identification number, blood type, and religious affiliation, if any, of the bearer.
For general public use, less formal and more attractive data storage and presentation devices have enjoyed some limited popularity. Bracelets, for example, to be worn by men or women, that specify certain physical disabilities or allergies of the wearer, e.g., diabetes or penicillin reaction, now are relatively common. There is, however, a continuing core of male market resistance to articles of this nature and a conflict between the need to wear these bracelets all of the time and a perceived feminine practice of frequently changing jewelry to match specific occasions, styles of dress and the like. Both of these reasons for reluctance to wear bracelets are, of course, completely at odds with the requirement that bracelets and other items of this nature should be plainly visible and immediately recognizable to a medical attendant during an emergency.
Bracelets and similar items also fail to satisfy an equally or more important need. The ability to assist a patient is, in many ways, directly related to the availability of a great deal of basic medical information about that person. The effectiveness of emergency care procedures, moreover, may depend on the almost immediate availability of detailed background information about the person and in a degree of detail that is not compatible with a simple bracelet inscription.
There is a further obstacle to the general adoption of a bracelet or similar item of personal wear. This obstacle is the perfectly normal and practical desire of most human beings to avoid exposing the existence of some infirmity or disability to the public at large.
Accordingly, the need to reconcile the requirement to carry on the person a large amount of basic medical and other data in a form that is immediately recognizable as such to medical and emergency workers with the practical, esthetic, and data storage limitations that characterize bracelets and the like remains unsatisfied.
Through the years there have been a number of proposals to store important data on items that are attached to key chains because seldom does anyone leave the confines of the house without a chain of house, automobile and other keys on the person. The following United States patents are typical of these proposals:
U.S. Pat. No. 292,954 granted to J. C. Russel on Feb. 5, 1884 for "Key Tag" shows a device bearing return address and reward information that is to be attached to a key chain.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,928,195 granted to B. T. Fischer on Mar. 15, 1960 for "Combination Key and Picture Holder" shows a key-shaped device with slidable, information bearing inserts attached to a key chain.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,479 granted to S. R. Manzardo on Oct. 5, 1965 for "Identification Means for Keys" shows a body attached to a key and a message slip inserted in that body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,261 granted to W. L. Chubb on Sept. 21, 1982 for "Key Attachment" shows an attachment that is secured to a key, the attachment containing information that indicates the specific lock associated with that key.
None of these patents, however, disclose or suggest any means for storing a great volume of detailed information in an inexpensive device that is clearly and immediately recognizable as a data repository.